JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A 55-year-old Colombian national living in Jacksonville was sentenced to three years in federal prison for stealing a U.S. citizen\u2019s identity to secure government documents and vote illegally in Duval County elections, according to a news release from Homeland Security Investigations.<\/p>\n
Carlos Felipe Jaramillo Grajales was convicted after a federal investigation revealed he spent decades using a stolen Social Security number, name, and birth date to obtain passports, driver\u2019s licenses and voter registrations.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n Action News Jax first told you about the investigation into Jaramillo in November<\/a>.<\/p>\n Jaramillo was convicted of making false statements in a U.S. passport application, aggravated identity theft, falsely claiming a Social Security number, and falsely claiming eligibility to vote in an election. A federal judge also issued a judicial order for Jaramillo\u2019s removal to Colombia.<\/p>\n According to court documents, Jaramillo began using the stolen identity of a U.S. citizen in March 2003 to obtain a Florida driver\u2019s license using the victim\u2019s name, date of birth, and Social Security number. He renewed the fraudulent driver\u2019s license multiple times, most recently in February 2024. In April 2003, he submitted a Puerto Rican birth certificate in the victim\u2019s name and his fraudulent driver\u2019s license to obtain a U.S. passport, which was issued in May 2003 and subsequently renewed in February 2013 and March 2023.<\/p>\n Jaramillo used the same stolen identity in December 2010 to submit a Florida voter registration application, falsely affirming he was a U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico. After the voter registration was approved, Jaramillo voted in several local and federal contests, including the Nov. 3, 2020, election in Duval County, the news release said.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n HSI Jacksonville Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tim Hemker detailed the scope of the federal investigation and law enforcement\u2019s response to public document fraud. <\/p>\n \u201cThis criminal illegal alien spent years exploiting a stolen identity of a United States citizen to obtain government documents, claim benefits, and unlawfully participate in the electoral process,\u201d Hemker said in the release. \u201cThis conviction demonstrates that identity theft, immigration fraud, and fraud against the integrity of United States government systems will be investigated thoroughly and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.\u201d<\/p>\n Investigating agents also uncovered an immigration scheme involving Jaramillo\u2019s former spouse, who entered the U.S. lawfully on a visa in September 2003. After marrying Jaramillo while he falsely posed as a U.S. citizen, she obtained lawful permanent residence and became a U.S. citizen in August 2017 before the couple divorced in January 2020, the release said.<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n In May 2024, Jaramillo traveled to Colombia under the assumed identity, where his former spouse filed for immigration benefits on his behalf using his true name in June 2024. The news release said after returning to the U.S. under his real name, the two remarried in June 2025, and Jaramillo applied for permanent residence based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen.<\/p>\n The federal investigation was conducted jointly by HSI Jacksonville, the U.S. Department of State\u2019s Diplomatic Security Service, and the Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier prosecuted the case.<\/p>\n Following the completion of his three-year prison sentence, Jaramillo faces mandatory deportation under a judicial order entered by the court for his removal to Colombia.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A 55-year-old Colombian national living in Jacksonville was sentenced to three years in federal prison…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[344,32278,347,145578,31842,28,348,47628,27014,116,351,118,117,349,350,346,345],"class_list":["post-402802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-action-news-jax","tag-carlos-felipe-jaramillo-grajales","tag-cbs47","tag-duval-county-elections","tag-federal-prison-sentence","tag-florida","tag-fox30","tag-homeland-security-investigations","tag-identity-theft","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-fl","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-northeast-florida","tag-southeast-georgia","tag-wfox","tag-wjax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}